Thursday, July 29, 2010

Small beginnings for family feast day celebrations

We actually did a little remembrance for the feast of Sts. Anne and Joachim.  It was nice.  And we did it, which is fantastic.  Plans are all well and good, but the follow-through is what really counts.  I'm learning, too, what we can manage and what will stick.

For St. Anne and St. Joachim, we thought about grandparents.  We called the ones we could reach, and next year I can imagine coloring pictures or writing letters or some such.  What better day to honor our grandparents than on the day of Jesus' grandparents' feast day?

We read a few accounts of their lives, said a few prayers, went to daily Mass, and kept a candle lit by our statue of St. Anne.  Whenever we passed her, one of us would call, "St. Anne and St. Joachim," and the others would reply, "Pray for us."  Nothing too involved, and the little ones really liked doing it (especially keeping the tealight burning.  Lighting candles is a big deal, apparently.  Done under my direct supervision and guidance, of course!).

We did have shellfish for dinner, which I had read about somewhere, since France claims St. Anne lived there or was born there.  For dessert, though, we had peach cobbler.  In addition to my being tickled that my biscuit top came out nicely, it was another tip to my grandmother.  When I think of Grandma Terry, I think of cobbler.  If you had a few pints of blackberries picked from the mountainside, there would be cobbler.  A little leftover this and that?  Cobbler.  Delicious.  So it was the perfect end to our feast day.

Today is St. Martha's feast day, and let's just say I am her kindred spirit.  My dear husband loves the reading in the gospel when Jesus chides her for being so busy--that little rebuke makes my heart sink a little, and I never miss it (and he always smiles a little at me).  Alright!  So I get caught up in the details and forget sometimes that I should be serving generously, humbly and without counting the cost.  I'm working on it (St. Martha:  pray for me!).

Today we'll honor her by cleaning house.  I've got a whole list of them to do, since we went out yesterday and I couldn't get my Wednesday chores done (mopping).  I also have to redo the vacuuming, since someone tracked in sand everywhere.  Bathrooms need scrubbing, and the fridge, which is almost empty, needs a good cleaning, too.  Instead of asking Jesus to call all my people into my service, I'm just going to ask nicely.

We'll head over to Maryheart for Mass at noon, and then later this afternoon to a doctor's appointment.  The only reason this is material is that it's a late appointment, and I won't have time to make dinner.  Ah, what a shame!  Our dinner out is a kind of tip to Martha's request:  she needed a break, the Chief Domestic Laborer of this household needs a break, too.  Red Robin:  yum?

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